Do you use a travel agent or book it yourself?

[mommymonster]

Is it cheaper to use a travel agent? I am looking at 3 days at a hotel near DL and 3 in San Diego. I want 3 day park hopper tickets and I also want to make sure i get Sea World and SD Zoo as well. Are you doing it yourself or going through a TA?

Lisa

 

[KCmike]

We always book it ourselves. I like to do the research and find the best deals. I always worry that the travel agents might be attached to certain hotels or packages. Any ideas what hotels your looking at?

 

[mommymonster]

no ideas on hotels...trying to research them now

 

[cmpeter]

For a trip to CA, I would (and always have) booked myself.

For SD, we have almost always used either our Hilton points to stay at Embassy Suites or used Priceline to get a 3-4 star near our desired area.

For DL, I would use the board recomendations...we have done Embassy Suites (used their shuttle), Grand Californian and for our next trip are staying at the BW Park Place Inn.

 

[mommymonster]

Well the TA is giving me a quote of $1965 (taxes included). 3 nights at Best Western Stovall Inn, 3 nights at The Dana on Mission Bay in San Diego, 3 day pass (no park hopper) to Disney Land, 5 day pass to San Diego Zoo, Sea World, and San Diego Zoo Safari Park for 3 people. It also includes a few other things like a 30 gift card, etc.

I think it is a good deal??? I have a few days to make up my mind.

Lisa

 

[KCmike]

May I ask what dates your traveling or rather what month? I know a few of us will price tickets/hotels for you to see what we come up with. You said three people. How many adults and how many kids?

 

[mommymonster]

I would like to stay 12/25 to 12/28 in Disney area and 12/28 to 12/31 in San Diego area near zoo/sea world. 1 adult 2 kiddos ages 5 and 11

 

[Escape2Disney]

Okay, here's what I came up with:

Stovall's for 3 nights: $473.85
3-Day Hoppers: $250/adult, $220 for child under 9
3-Day non-Hopper: $200/adult, $170 for child under 9
The Dana for 3 nights: $627.13
3 for 1 5 day pass for the SD parks: $135/adult, $105/child

The hotel stay may be able to be lower if you book through travelocity or priceline.

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

For Disney (especially cruises) I book through Dreams Unlimited (they sponsor some of these boards). For other trips, I check out other travel agent offers and do my own research, then book the best and/or least expensive trip for me.

 

[mommymonster]

So I guess her price is cheaper when I add yours all together. Thanks for checking that.

 

[yaya74]

Dont' forget to check with Costco Travel if you are a Costco member. I like the bonus stuff that came with the package, especially the Extra Magic booklet which gave me preferred seating for Animation Academy, Aladdin, Muppet 3D and It's Tough to be a Bug shows at DCA.

 

[tanyaewa]

Wow escape2! That was great of you to check all that out!

 

[kangaroodle]

I am just starting to plan a trip to DL. So confusing for me because I know WDW like the back of my hand!

Have you looked into the CItyPass for Southern California? It includes a 3 day park Hopper to DL (plus 1 Magic Morning), 1 day at Seaworl and 1 day at Universal Studios. Price is $279 adults/$239 kids. You can add one day at the SanDiego Zoo for a total of $311/adults and $263 kids. I added all the prices up separately for an adult and the savings is at least $109.

That might be the way to go for you.

 

[rszdtrvl]

I was a travel agent out of high school, so I always book myself. I would love to be a travel agent again, but with the internet, most people book vacations themselves.

So, I book myself.

 

[damiel]

When planning our trip for later this year I found that I could book the trip for about half the price of the TA or even Costco travel. I found that "Good Neighbor" Hotels are more expensive than some of the other hotels that offer the same experience.
You might benefit from a Southern California City Pass; Disney and Zoo and Sea World tickets are included.
Are you Retiered or Active duty military? MWR has great discounts.
My suggestion is to look at all hotel options, also switch the dates you are inn San Diego with Disney to see if the hotel rates change.

 

[mydisneymoney]

When planning our trip for later this year I found that I could book the trip for about half the price of the TA or even Costco travel. I found that "Good Neighbor" Hotels are more expensive than some of the other hotels that offer the same experience.
You might benefit from a Southern California City Pass; Disney and Zoo and Sea World tickets are included.
Are you Retiered or Active duty military? MWR has great discounts.
My suggestion is to look at all hotel options, also switch the dates you are inn San Diego with Disney to see if the hotel rates change.

The Zoo is no longer part of the City Pass. It is just Disneyland, Universal Studios and SeaWorld. There is a 3-in-1 ticket package for SeaWorld, SD Zoo and SD Animal Safari. I think I would price out the different options and see what is cheapest.

I do our own planning and booking. I make a spreadsheet each time we go and price out all the different options to see what is the least expensive. Check out CostcoTravel, Getawaytoday, Aries Travel to packages. I bought my Disneyland tickets online using my Discover card and received 5% cash back which came to $42 back. That is better then any deal you can usually get through most other online sources. The Discover Card deal was only through the end of September 2012 but they are offering 5% cash back on online shopping through the end of December so if you buy your tickets online it might count (I would call them and check). Also, I bought my Seaworld Tickets online VIA Ebates. I received 2.5% cash back from Ebates and then I used a discount code I found on MouseSavers.com and saved $20 off each Adult ticket and $15 (I think) for a child's ticket. I also booked our hotel in SD on Hotels.com via Ebates and saved another 3.5% cash back through Ebates PLUS Hotels.com will match other online prices.

 

[mommymonster]

Thanks for the tips!

 

[kangaroodle]

The Zoo is no longer part of the City Pass. It is just Disneyland, Universal Studios and SeaWorld.

You can still ADD the San Diego Zoo to this City Pass but is an extra fee.